FIG. 1 shows a commonly used network arrangement in which a plurality of local computer systems (100) connected to a local area network (LAN 102) access a plurality of remote servers through the Internet 110. Each remote server may include World Wide Web sites (web sites) that each include a plurality of World Wide Web pages (web pages). Each local computer system 100 may access the remote web sites with web browser software, such as Netscape Navigator.TM., available from Netscape Communications Corporation of Mountain View, Calif.
The World Wide Web is a collection of servers (i.e., web servers) connected to the Internet that utilize the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). HTTP is a known application protocol that provides users with access to files (which can be in different formats, such as text, graphics, images, sound, and video) using a standard page description language known as Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). HTML is used to transmit data and instructions between a remote computer (the web server) and a local computer (client computer) in a form that is understandable to the browser software on the client computer.
Information in web pages accessed over the Internet commonly is downloaded into a volatile cache memory in the client computer system. This enables a person visiting a site (visitor) to quickly re-access web page information that was already downloaded, thereby eliminating the need to repeat the relatively slow process of traversing the Internet to access previously viewed web pages. Browsers thus typically include a mechanism for re-accessing the downloaded web pages. The Netscape Navigator.TM. browser, for example, includes a "BACK" button and a "FORWARD" button on a graphical user interface for such purposes.
In addition to downloading the web page, the web server also may transmit a "cookie" to the browser and receive previously transmitted cookies stored in the permanent memory of the browser. As is well known in the art, a cookie may include information that facilitates access to the downloaded web page on a subsequent access by the browser. By way of example, such information may enable the client computer to more easily form the web page when it is subsequently displayed by a display device in the client computer system.
Information relating to visitor use of a web site is important in maintaining and supporting a web site. For example, use of a web page by a very small number of visitors might suggest that such web page should be eliminated or redesigned to attract more visitors. One known method of obtaining such information utilizes a counter that counts the number of times a web page has been accessed. The counter typically is in the form of an application program on the web server that may be accessed by a web server administrator. One problem with this method, however, is that it does not account for re-accesses to web pages after such web pages have been downloaded into the cache memory in the client computer. More particularly, this method does not count the number of times a visitor re-accesses the downloaded web page, such as by selecting a BACK button or FORWARD button displayed by the web browser. Such method therefore merely indicates the number of visitors to a web page and not the actual number of times such web page has been accessed. These two numbers can vary significantly, thus providing inaccurate information.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a method and apparatus that accurately and efficiently obtains and stores information relating to use of a web site.